The invention relates to a profiled seal for providing a sealing arrangement between a vertically sliding window pane and a roof frame of a cabriolet.
A known profiled seal of this type (German Pat. No. DE 198 11 362 A1) is attached to a motor vehicle body by placing it on a fold in the car body. Projections in the holding section which protrude on both sides of the fold against the profiled seal are used to attach said profiled seal to the car body.
In the case of a profiled seal known per se (WO 97/00180 A1; FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7) the window pane comes into contact with two opposite lying sealing lips. The sealing lips form longitudinal edges of the length of profiled elastomer. The attachment elements penetrate the length of profiled elastomer and the carrier rail and are mounted through the sealing lips on the connection part. It is possible for dust and/or moisture to collect in an undesired manner above the sealing lips inside the profiled seal. Moreover, it is necessary to cut the profiled seal into sections and each section must be stretch-bent into the required three-dimensional shape using costly tools.
German Patent No. DE 39 21 760 C2 discloses a profiled seal known per se which is provided for window panes which can be raised and lowered in motor vehicles, which profiled seal is placed on a flange of a window frame.
It is known per se from German Pat. No. DE 295 02 105 U1 to dispose a U- shaped reinforcement in the form of a twisted wire body in a U-shaped clamping section of a profiled seal. A tubular sealing section of the profiled seal is integrally formed on a cross-piece of the clamping section.
It is known per se to produce a holding rail as an extruded aluminium profile, to stretch-bend it into the desired three-dimensional shape and to attach it by means of attachment elements to the connection part. Only then is the length of profiled elastomer inserted on the motor vehicle assembly line into the receiving devices on both sides of the holding rail. This is time-consuming and costly.
It is known per se from Great Britain Pat. No. GB 2 074 639 A to attach a sheet metal holding element, which is substantially L-shaped in cross-section, to a roof frame by means of screws. Before the screws are tightened, an edge region of a tubular seal is placed behind a longitudinal edge of the holding element as shown in FIG. 4. After the screws have been tightened, a clamping profile of the tubular seal is placed onto a cross-piece of the holding element lying opposite the longitudinal edge.
In accordance with German Patent No. DE 297 15 485 U1, it is known per se to provide a profiled metal support with projections lying opposite each other at a spaced interval. Complementary shoulders of a tubular sealing strip are clipped or pushed over the projections.
The object of the invention is to develop the profiled seal such that the first limb of the holding section is held in a particularly favorable sealing arrangement on the attachment flange of the connection part.
This object is achieved by an inventive profiled seal for providing a sealing arrangement between a vertically sliding window pane and a roof frame of a cabriolet. The profiled seal includes a length of profiled elastomer which is co-extruded with a metal reinforcement. The profiled seal has a three-dimensional shape and can be fixed to the connection parts of the roof frame. The profiled seal includes a holding section which has a substantially U-shaped cross-section. The holding section is part of the length of profiled elastomer and contains the embedded reinforcement which likewise has a U-shaped cross-section. The holding section can be placed on an attachment flange of the connection part in a self-clamping and sealing manner. A sealing section of the length of profiled elastomer is integrally formed laterally on a first limb of the holding section and includes a foot formed onto the first limb. The foot comprises a longitudinal groove on a first longitudinal edge which is adjacent to a free longitudinal edge of the first limb. A dimensionally stable edge flange of a roof of the cabriolet engages in the longitudinal groove.
As the dimensionally stable edge flange of the roof of the cabriolet engages into the longitudinal groove, the first limb of the holding section can be pushed against the attachment flange.
The roof which forms part of the roof frame can be a folding roof cover or a multi- piece, hard folding roof. The roof frame can if necessary also include the A-column of the cabriolet. The reinforcement consists for example of a metal punched strip or comprises a twisted wire body. The length of profiled elastomer is optionally co- extruded from a plurality of different elastomers. The profiled seal is preferably produced such that the planar reinforcement is first extruded within the length of the profiled elastomer. After the co-extrusion the holding section is bent into a U-shape together with the reinforcement inside it. It is not necessary to stretch-bend the profiled seal produced in this manner. On the contrary, the profiled seal with its holding section is simply pushed onto the attachment flange of the connection part. Because it is possible to deform the reinforcement in a three-dimensional manner, the entire profiled seal can also be bent easily into a final three-dimensional shape and assembled in this shape on the connection part. It is not necessary to provide any attachment elements, such as screws, and this has a favorable effect on the assembly costs on the production line of the cabriolet. Because of the lateral integral formation of the sealing section on the first limb of the holding section, the profiled seal has a structure which is particularly compact and functionally safe.
In certain embodiments, the edge flange, in combination with the connection part, is a component of an outer metal sheet of a roof part of a hard folding roof, or is formed on the connection part of the roof frame, which is convenient and functionally safe.
In other embodiments, the free longitudinal edge of the first limb can be pressed in cooperation with the edge flange on a sealing surface of the attachment flange. This contributes to a firm and tight seat of the holding section on the attachment flange.
This effect is also supported by a profiled seal in which a hook-shaped end lip of the first limb protrudes into the longitudinal groove and the end lip lies prestressed against a supporting surface, facing the sealing surface, of the edge flange.
In another embodiment, the profiled seal""s end lip engages in a locking manner behind a longitudinal rib of the edge flange, which rib extends in a direction of the sealing surface. This arrangement of the end lip produces a positive-locking arrangement between the profiled seal and the connection part.
In another embodiment, the profiled seal""s foot has, outside the longitudinal groove, a sealing lip which lies prestressed in a sealing manner against the roof. This improves the manner in which the associated gap is sealed against moisture and noise.
This effect is further enhanced by a profiled seal having a sealing lip that lies against a longitudinal edge of a cover material of a folding roof cover, or a sealing lip that lies against the outer metal sheet of the roof part of the hard folding roof.
In another embodiment, the limb of the length of profiled elastomer extends outwards at an angle from a second longitudinal edge, remote from the first longitudinal edge, of the foot, and a membrane of the length of profiled elastomer is attached between a free longitudinal edge of the limb and the first longitudinal edge of the foot and produces a hollow cavity in the length of profiled elastomer and this cavity partly receives the window pane as it closes. As this hollow cavity is normally hermetically sealed, neither dust nor moisture can penetrate into the hollow cavity and adversely affect the window pane.
In certain embodiments, the window pane comes into sealing contact with the membrane when the pane is in the uppermost region of its travel. Accordingly, a good sealing arrangement is produced between the closed window pane and the membrane.
In accordance with certain embodiments, the foot and limb consist of soft rubber and the membrane consists of expanded rubber. The soft rubber can have a hardness of 60 Shore A and the expanded rubber can have a hardness of for example 15 Shore A. Soft rubber and expanded rubber are preferably co-extruded together with the reinforcement using the duplex method.
In accordance with certain other embodiments, the metals reinforcements consist of a punched strip or a twisted wire body, which are inexpensive and in every respect functionally safe.